The Silver Lake Ethics Commission will interview Trustee Sue Gerber as part of its examination of an ethics complaint lodged by a village resident.
The complaint was filed by resident Ralph Jankovic. In his letter, dated Jan. 11, Jankovic charges that Gerber has been improperly voting on matters regarding the village’s contract with Silver Lake Rescue Squad Inc. because her son, Dan Gerber, is the private corporation’s president. Jankovic see this as a conflict of interest. He also alleges that Trustees David Snow and Michael Decker acted improperly by meeting with Silver Lake Rescue Squad Inc. representatives without notifying village President Jeff Albrecht and/or Trustee Cyndy Schwebke, chairman of the Emergency Government Committee (note: Jankovic is Schwebke’s father).
Gerber will answer questions from the commission starting at 7 p.m., Feb. 12, at Village Hall. The commission set the meeting date at a meeting tonight. Gerber was in attendance at the meeting and said she would be available on Feb. 12.
Earlier in the meeting, the commission established from reading minutes and listening to meeting recordings that there were at least three instances in which Gerber voted on matters relating to the Silver Lake Rescue contract with the village. The commission also reviewed parts of the village ethics ordinance, including the definition of personal interest and the section on conflicts of interest calling for disclosure of financial interest or personal interest. Those sections follow:
PERSONAL INTEREST The following specific blood or marriage relationships: A. A person’s spouse, mother, father, child, brother or sister; or B. A person’s relative by blood or marriage who receives, directly or indirectly, more than 1/2 of his or her support from such person or from whom such person receives, directly or indirectly, more than 1/2 of his or her support.
Conflicts of interest: (2) Any member of the Village Board who has a financial interest or personal interest in any proposed legislation before the Village Board shall disclose on the records of the Village Board the nature and extent of such interest; such official shall not participate in debate or vote for adoption or defeat of such legislation. If the matter before the Board involves a member’s personal interest with persons involved, the member may participate in debate or discussion and vote on the matter following disclosure, unless an ordinance or contract is involved; if an ordinance or contract is involved, such official shall not participate in debate or discussion and vote on the matter.
The commission decided it needed to interview Gerber before reaching a conclusion on the application of the above parts of the ethics ordinance.
Board members also decided they wanted to formally establish Dan Gerber’s position with Silver Lake Rescue through contacting rescue.
The commission also briefly discussed the complaint against Trustees Decker and Snow. Commission member Diane Kuyper said her research showed little application of the ethics ordinance in the actions of Snow and Decker described in the complaint, though she felt it may have been a open meetings violation. But all three members decided to try to conclude the Gerber portion of the complaint before discussing the Decker-Snow complaint further.
Ultimately, the commission will come up with a conclusion about the allegations in the complaint. That conclusion will then be referred to the Village Board for possible action.
The village ethics ordinance says a violation can result in a penalty, as defined by state statute, of a fine from $100 to $1,000.
This is starting to get old. Silver Lake is a bedroom community with everything else falling apart, and we have people bickering like school children over a rescue squad. Do these people hear themselves? Instead if worrying about getting rid of a service that has been provided for over 50 years, lets try to bring business in town… Lets focus on making Silver Lake a better town.
Anytime there is a real chance that a law was broken it needs to be investigated, especially when it involves the public trust. Public officials need to be unbiased in their decision making and their votes. Voters need to know that those public officials didn’t base their votes based on personal/family circumstances.
Just to let everyone know, Sue Gerber was found GUILTY of voting on issues with the Silver Lake Rescue Inc matters and is forbidden from further voting or discussions as she has violated the Villages Ethics Policy.